Author: Tiffany Rioflorido

Tiffany is a managing partner at Growth Group. Her day consists of a University class in the morning, and an afternoon with the Growth Group Team, managing various inbound marketing campaigns, client relations, and sales accounts. Aside from producing impactful digital content, Tiffany enjoys coaching volleyball and traveling the world. Her favourite destinations are Melbourne and Singapore.

The holidays can be overwhelming. This is especially true if you’re a business owner that’s scrambling to find quick and inexpensive ways to send the holiday gifts to your best clients. We’ve compiled a short list of low-cost gifts that’ll delight your clients and keep you top-of-mind in the new year.

1. A HANDWRITTEN Card

The handwritten card is an absolute must for B2B businesses. We recommend sending your postcards to current and past clients, vendors, and any hot leads you may have.

Given that most communication between businesses is digital, receiving a handwritten card can be a rare gem. We recommend ordering customized post cards, and taking the time to provide a handwritten message. You can even have your team contribute to signing each card to add more sentiment.

Don’t have time to hand deliver your card but still want to add a personal touch? The Treasured Card is a new and unique way for people and organizations to express gratitude, by customizing a voice message that can be access through a QR code. Each individual card is customized and printed to your specifications with a web-portal that let’s your record a voice-greeting. This card is your chance to speak to your clients one last tme before the new year.

2. Wine

Wine is always an appropriate gift item because it’s shareable, but the last thing you want to gift your clients is bad wine — you’ll leave a bad taste. Clients will acknowledge your taste and consideration if you can treat them with a decent tasting wine. We suggest using online tools like MyWineCanada.com or Vivino to find popular, well-reviewed wines that fit your gifting budget.

Vivino, is an app that allows you to take a photo of any wine label, learn the wine’s rating, the reviews, and average price instantly. They also provide a plethora of reviews and top picks at various price points.

MyWineCanada.com is an online wine finder that enables Canadians to shop for and buy wine from Canada’s top wine producers. You order directly from the winery and it is shipped right to your house. Why not shop local when the selection is this great?

3. Personal Holiday Playlist from Your Company

Bring the joy of holiday music to your clients work-space. There’s multiple studies that prove music equates to productivity creating an environment. Creating a Holiday playlists on spotify is free and takes no time. Best of all, it can be shared through email and social media.

If it’s a highly-valued client, why not send them a gift-card for a premium Spotify or Itunes membership? It’s something they’ll frequently use, and remember for months to come.

When it comes to indoor plants, succulents and air plants don’t require maintenance, which makes them an awesome choice for office greenery. They also represent growth, prosperity and wealth in many cultures.

Plants don’t cost much either, and you can purchase a desk-sized succulent for around $10. Best of all it’ll become a reminder of your services and good-will for that client.

5. Humidifier

It’s Winter— so why not gift a much-needed humidifier? During the winter office buildings often suffer from dry-air which effects overall comfort and productivity. Dry, cold air can sap moisture from the skin, and cause respiratory problems.

The humidifier can make you an office hero! It’s a practical, and a (relatively) low-priced items that creates lasting effects your client can literally feel.

Use the holidays to show clients that you’re grateful for their business.

You don’t have to break the bank or be extravagant.Most importantly, take the time to personalize the names and contacts for your holiday gifts or greeting cards. The last thing you’d want is for your kind gesture to go unnoticed.

Your clients know that you provide value- hence why they work with you! The Holidays can be stressful, so just remember that a thoughtful gesture for your clients will keep you top of mind come new year.

For many entrepreneurs, the typical day consists of constant multitasking and switching between various assignments. The last thing that should be compromised is productivity. There’s probably an app for each of your daily tasks, but which ones will actually make a significant difference in your day-to-day?

As an agency, we’re constantly seeking new tools that can improve productivity and reduce stress. Below, I’ve highlighted some of our favorite tools to manage daily-work faster and more effectively.

1. Asana

Asana is a web and mobile application that we frequently use to track tasks and the progress as a team. The app allows you to create categories for tasks, projects and teams that can all be interconnected for a high-level view. On a daily basis we use Asana to assign tasks, check to-do’s and share notes.

We’ve also used Slack and Basecamp to manage team projects, though Asana offers a more aesthetically pleasing dashboard that requires barely any instruction to understand.

2. 1Password

How often do you forget your business/personal passwords? Frankly, it happens quite often for us, especially when we’re managing various accounts across different devices. With 1Password, you can access and autofill any of your stored from a browser extension. 1Password manages all of your credentials and allows users to actively store passwords and sensitive content with a PBKDF2 guarded-master password.

3. Find that Lead

Seeking the email address for a lead or company that you’ve been tirelessly targeting? Find that lead is a browser plugin that pulls relevant contact emails from a company website or media link. The app only requires a name, and company domain to start scanning the web for relevant email addresses. Their dashboard also includes a validation score that indicates the accuracy for the email addresses it generates. Find That Lead offers a free-version with a limit of 10 leads per day, which is stored automatically in CSV format for easy export.

4. Hello Sign

Hello Sign allows you sign documents through email, without any paper or physical copies. The browser extension can be downloaded for free. You’ll be able to to sign documents in less than thirty seconds. As well, all signed documents are legally binding and automatically backed up. It’s perfect for long-distance proposal, and obtaining signatures urgently.

5. Canva

Canva is a free mobile and web app that allows user to produce content using a variety of editable templates that are constantly being updated. Whether it be a magazine, postcard, social media post (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn), Canva has templates for almost any design format. Photoshop is still our go-to, especially for highly-customized projects and print displays, however Canva is also fantastic for sourcing new design ideas.

Honorable Mention: Google Trends

Trends uses Google’s powerful algorithm to determine hot topics based on search history and new articles that are being indexed in real time. It also offers a demographic view of where certain trends are most prominent. For content driven brands, Google Trends offers an amazing breadth of engaging topics that can be used to produce new articles, videos and social media posts.